Sorry, NFL, You DON’T Have an Unassailable ‘Right’ to Protest the National Anthem

There has been a lot of pious talk from these anti-American leftists who now seem to infest the National Football League who say that they “have a right” to protest the national anthem at the start of each NFL game. But the fact is they really don’t.

Thanks to the sham that is America’s liberal besotted system of miseducation, there is a lot of confusion about what our “rights” as Americans are. So, let’s get this straight right now. You have no “right” to behave however you want at work. And if you DO behave however you want, you had better be prepared for consequences including being fired if your boss sees fit.

But, what of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, you ask? Doesn’t that “free speech” thingie give you a right to say whatever you want, whenever you want?

No, not really. At least, not in the way you might assume.

First we need to define what a “right” is. A right is something given to you by your creator, something no one can take away. It is, as the founders said, “inalienable,” or it can’t be alienated from or taken away from you.

However, a right also cannot impinge on someone else. This means that your rights must not require someone else to do something to “give” you your rights. This, for instance, is why healthcare cannot be a right. After all, if healthcare were a right, then a doctor or nurse would be required to treat you no matter what they want to do as individuals. So, if healthcare were a right, then you are necessarily taking away the freedom of choice from a healthcare provider because they would not be allowed to turn away from you or decide to treat you in a different way. Their rights as individuals would be eliminated in favor of your “right” to healthcare.

Since your right cannot force others to act, healthcare cannot be a right. Get it?

Now, let’s get to the national anthem protests sweeping across the NFL.

Players have been insisting that they have a “right” to indulge their statements of hate for America.

At one level, that is correct.

But the truth is, these super rich, multi-millionaire players are wrong on a more important level because they maintain that because it is their right to protest against the country, no one should do anything to stop them from doing it and there should be no consequences for their protests.

That contention is wrong.

Sure, the players have a right to take a knee and protest the U.S.A., its flag, its history, its soldiers, cops, and first responders. But they also must be prepared to suffer the consequences.

You see, neither the fans, nor the NFL’s team owners, nor the league itself are under an obligation to meekly accept the players’ protest without responding the way THEY see fit to respond.

The NFL is not a political entity fully controlled by government. It is a private organization. That means the NFL as a league and the owners as individuals can, within reason, make all the rules they want to stop such protests. And guess what? Such rules DO NOT violate the players’ free speech.

Why?

Because while players may be barred from speaking out at work and on the field, they are not barred for saying anything they want off the field. In other words, their freedom of speech is not quashed because they are barred from speaking out at work because they can talk all they want on their own time.

There is another aspect to this, as well. In truth, the ONLY entity that can quash free speech is a government. And our First Amendment is set up to stop government from passing laws to stop people from speaking their political opinions and ideas.

This came about because the founders came from a land where King and crown determined what political speech was allowable by the people. The founders felt those restrictions were an affront to God. So, they set up a system where no one’s political ideas would be quashed by government.

Finally, we get to the other consequences of free speech: the reaction.

Even if anthem protests were “free speech” — which they aren’t — it is ALSO free speech for the fans to hate the protests, to complain about the protests if they want, and to stop patronizing the NFL. Fans are under no obligation at all to support the NFL if they dislike the anthem protests that have metastasized like a cancer throughout the league.

The fans also have free speech to tell the NFL to shove it.

So, while the players may still want to protest, they do so at the risk of their livelihoods. The fans have every right to quit their NFL habits and that, in turn, will end up depriving the players of money and the opportunity to play a kid’s game for a job as the money spent by fans dries up.

And that, folks, is how free speech works.

Finally, let me say this: Isn’t it funny how the left thinks protesting against the U.S. during the national anthem should be allowed as “free speech,” but on the other hand they want those who complain about the protests to shut up? Free speech only works in favor of leftists, apparently.